Until now, the slaying of millionaire tech investor Ravi Kumra at his 7,000-square-foot Silicon Valley mansion appeared to be the result of a home-invasion robbery gone wrong. One of the many prostitutes he hired over the years, authorities said, set up Kumra -- who suffocated while bound and gagged with duct tape.

But new details emerged last week at the preliminary hearing for the prostitute and two others charged with the killing, suggesting that one of them also had a personal motive for ransacking the sprawling Monte Sereno house and allowing the death of the wealthy investor who once owned the Mountain Winery concert venue in Saratoga.

DeAngelo Austin, one of the three co-defendants in the home invasion robbery that resulted in the death of wealthy Monte Sereno businessman Raveesh Kumra, enters the courtroom for his arraignment at the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice, in San Jose, Calif. on Thursday, Jan 3, 2013. (LiPo Ching/Staff).
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LiPo Ching
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Prosecutor Kevin Smith contends that defendant DeAngelo Austin, 22, believed Kumra had stolen $30,000 from him. The cash had been seized by police months earlier after police arrested Austin on suspicion of violating probation for a residential burglary. While Austin was in San Quentin, Smith said, Kumra persuaded police to turn the money over to prostitute Katrina Fritz, Austin's 33-year-old sister and one of the co-defendants in the Kumra case.

"Ms. Fritz got the money because Mr. Kumra told police he had given that cash to her to help with her expenses," Smith said in a dramatic opening statement at the hearing, which resumes Tuesday. "When told by the police about the money going to his sister, DeAngelo Austin was quite angry."

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Kumra's violent death on Nov. 30, 2012, made international news. According to Kumra's ex-wife, Harinder, who lived in the sprawling mansion despite the couple's divorce, at least three men broke into the gated estate and searched for valuables for up to two hours.

Smith said they gagged Ravi Kumra, binding his hands and feet behind him with duct tape. According to Smith, Austin then woke up Harinder and punched her in the mouth -- badly cutting her lip -- dragged her out of bed and bound her, too. In a macabre touch, the robbers used white tape speckled with black mustaches, putting it over Ravi Kumra's eyes and nose, Smith revealed.

Pictured is Raveesh Kumra, also known as Ravi Kumra, of Monte Sereno. Kumra was the victim of a home invasion robbery, during which he died. Three young men and a young woman are awaiting trial. Courtesy of RMT PR Management -
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Courtesy RMT PR Management -
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Harinder "implored the invaders to call (Ravi) a doctor as he had breathing problems," Smith said in his statement. "Shortly after being shoved next to him on the floor, Harinder realized that he was not breathing."

When the assailants left, Harinder managed to call 911. Police arrived to find her ex-husband dead of asphyxiation. Austin, his sister and Javier Garcia, 22, each have been charged with six felony counts, including two counts of false imprisonment and one count of murder, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and making criminal threats. They are being held without bail. Smith said Austin is a member of an Oakland gang called Money Team, Garcia belongs to the Ghost Town gang, and Fritz acted for the benefit of the gangs.

Fritz was not at the Kumra estate that night, Smith said, but exchanged multiple phone calls and text messages with her brother before, during and after the killing. Fritz also directed Austin to hidden closets that were ransacked, he said.

Under California law, she is still culpable because the killing occurred during the commission of a felony. So are Austin and Garcia, even if they did not intend to kill Kumra. Police are still looking for other men who might have been participants.

At the end of the preliminary hearing, Superior Court Judge Linda Clark will decide whether there is enough evidence to hold the three over for trial. Meanwhile, District Attorney Jeff Rosen is weighing whether to seek the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole.

At the two-day hearing, Smith described the stolen loot in detail for the first time. The robbers took about $15,000 in cash, a vintage Louis Vuitton handbag, jewelry including diamonds, gold, silver, pearls and rubies, as well as old Indian and British coins that could be melted down for silver.

New information also surfaced about the reckless lifestyle that left Ravi Kumra vulnerable. A few days before he was killed, Kumra had sex with three prostitutes at the Los Gatos Lodge, a nearby motel he frequently used for his assignations, his personal assistant testified. The assistant knew because Kumra proudly showed him a videotape of the sexual encounter the day before he died.

It was the same motel where Kumra had reported being robbed and physically attacked -- apparently by a prostitute -- two years earlier, Los Gatos police Corporal Erin Lunsford testified.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Kumra had long-running relationships with a number of prostitutes," Smith said.

Police were able to solve the case partly because Kumra's killers left their DNA behind on several items in the mansion, including a strip of duct tape, the empty roll of tape and latex gloves, Lunsford testified. The robbers had doused the gloves with soap and water, leaving them floating in the sink. But the moisture did not wash off the DNA.